Quality and durability are important factors in the design of systems for providing electrical connections, especially such systems utilized in the telecommunications and automotive industries. One criterion affecting the quality of such connections is the extent of effective electrical insulation surrounding the connection. Another important criterion is the maintenance of the connection in a moisture-free environment. The invasion of water at the connection site may be detrimental in several respects. For example, the “noise,” “static” and “cross-talk” which frequently plague telecommunication systems are sometimes caused by signal leakage due to moisture at the connection site. Maintaining the connection and preventing signal loss or attenuation may be critical for high speed data transmission of up to about 100 MHz, or frequencies commonly used by high speed data transmission such as digital subscriber line (DSL) services. This type of data transmission is commonly used to transmit large quantities of data or high definition video signals. Disruptions to the connections made to transmit this type of data can have a strong negative impact on the bit error rate of the data and the distance the data is able to travel on the network. The intrusion of water may also have the obvious disadvantage of fostering corrosion and thus negatively impacting the durability of the connection.
While noise resistance, durability and moisture resistance in the face of environmental variations and other stresses is desirable in most electrical connecting devices, there are also many commercial and military applications in which electrical connections are repaired and/or modified in the field. It is desirable that such repair and/or modification be accomplished in the shortest period of time, in an economically efficient fashion and/or with a minimum of inconvenience to the field craftsperson or technician. In fact, such characteristics may also be highly desirable from the standpoint of the initial manufacture of the electrical connecting device.
Sealants that have been found to be useful in electrical connecting devices include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,354,210, 5,360,350, 5,580,265, 5,691,399, 5,741,843 and 5,844,012, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. These sealants may have significant tack, which has been thought to contribute to desirable sealant properties. However, the tack may cause the sealants to be somewhat difficult to work with both at the point of manufacture and in the field. Therefore, it would be desirable for sealants to have the desirable properties of these sealants but also have less tack and therefore better release properties.